Crossbar line switch



July 8 1924.

1,500,593 c. o. RICHARD CROSSBAR um: swn'cn Filed April 18. 19 21 2 Sheets-Sheet 1' by Arty July 8. 1924. 1,500,593

C. D. RICHARD CROSSBAR LINE SWITCH Filed April 18, 1921 2 Sheets-Shoat 2 ll IIIIIllIIIIll/Il/I/I/ll/l/I/ll/I/l l Ill,

' IIIIIIIIIIIIIIII mov. d through a definite arc.

Patented July 8, 1924.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

CHARLES D. RICHARD, OF NEW BRIGHTON, NEW YORK, .ASSIGNOR TO WESTERN ELECTRIC COMPANY, INCORPORATED, OF

NEW YORK.

NEW YORK, N. Y., A CORPORATION OF CROSSBAR LINE SWITCH.

Application filed April 18, 1921.; Serial No. 462,257.

T all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, CHARLES D. RICH- ARD, a citizen of France, residing at New Brighton, in the county of Richmond,

State of New York, have invented certain switches and specifically to that class known as crossbar line switches.

The object of this invention is the provision of a cross bar line switch embodying simplicity of design, durability and reli ability in operation.

The functions of the switch contemplated by this invention are substantially the same as those of other line switches of like character such for example as that described in U. S. Reissue Patent No. 14.236 to J. N. Reynolds,,December 26, 1916, but the mech anism whereby these functions are accomplished is believed to be quite different from any switch heretofore developed.

The novel features lie in the particular combination of mechanical means whereby the line conductors associated with the switch are connected with pre-selected trunk conductors upon the initiation of calls by the subscribers connected with the aforesaid line conductors. the switch of this invention comprises a plurality of sets of contact springs arranged in vertical and horizontal rows, that is co-ordinately, each set of contact springs including the terminals of a set of line conductors and the terminals of a 'setof trunk conductors so arranged that when the contact springs are operated, the associated line and trunk conductors, are connected together thus establishing electrical connections be tween calling subscribers lines and idle trunk lines. A plunger rod is provided for (ach. set of contact springs and each plunger rod is slidably mounted in a rotatable pivoted member. The plunger rods are situated eccentric to the fulcrum points of the pivoted members in which. they are mounted and they are, therefore, normally free to be While in In its preferred form their normal positions at one extremity of these arcs the plunger rods cannot be engaged to operate their contact springs, but when positioned at the other extremity of their respective arcs, they may be engaged and moved into operative contact with their contact springs. The latter positions of the plunger rods will be referred to hereinafter as their operable positions.

A plurality of vertical trunk bars are provided, there being one trunk bar for each trunk terminating in the switch and as many sets of contact springs and plungcrs are associated with each trunk bar as there are subscribers lines terminating in the switch. Through the medium of the various sets of contact springs every subscribcrs line has access to every trunk line.

Upon the pre-selection of a trunk line, the trunk bar associated therewith is moved upwardly, by a suitable mechanism, and en gages all its associated pivoted members and rotates the latter together with the plungers carried thereon until the plunger-s are in their operable or pre-selected positions. The pre-selected trunk bar then stops at the end of its upward stroke holding all the plungers in their operable positions until one of them is engaged in response to a call from one of the subscribers. Immediately, upon the engagement of a trunk its trunk bar is moved downwardly allowing all of its associated plungers to re? turn to their normal positions with the single exception of the plunger which is also associated with the calling line and which has engaged that trunk.

A plurality of line bars are provided each of which isresponsively associated with one of the sets of line conductors and these line bars are arranged transversely to the trunk bars. Each line bar is also associated with as many of the plungers as there are trunks and there are resiliently and pivotally mounted on each line bar, a number of arms, as many as there are plungers associated with that line bar. Each arm is intimately associated with one ofthese plungars and so arranged that upon operation of the line bar any arm which happens to be associated with a plunger standing in its operable position, will engage that plunger and force it into operative contact with its associated contact springs, thus establishing a connection through the medium of the contact springs,

b-ttween a calling line and a .previously selected idle trunk. In operating to establish connections the line bars are caused to rotate in one direction and in releasing connections they rotate in the opposite direction.

Other features of the invention reside in the specific details which will be brought out in the description which follows:

A. schematic representation of the switch together with a diagram of its associated circuits and that of a connecting subsoribers set is shown in Fig. 1 and a detailed perspective view of the mechanism of the switch is shown in Fig. 2.

Referring first to the schematic Fig. 1, there are shown a subscribers set 1, subscribers line conductors 2 and 3 and trunk conductors 4 and 5. Each pair of line conductors 2 and 3 and their associated conductor 6 is connected in multiple to every set of contact springs in the horizontal row of contact springs with which they are associated and each pair of trunk conductors 4 and and their associatedconductors 7 and 8 are connected in multiple to every set of contact springs in the vertical row with which they areassociated.

There are also shown fragmentarily in Fig. 1, two vertical trunk bars 9, 9; and two horizontal line bars 10, 10. Each trunk bar is provided with a plurality of projecting port-ions 11 by means of which the trunk bars when moved upwardly engage the pivoted members12 and rotate them about their pivots 13 through an are as will be described more-clearly hereinafter. Slidably mounted in each pivoted member 12 is a plunger rod 14 provided with a tapered head 15 adapted upon operation to engage a set of contact springs with which it is individually associated. Springs 16 shown in Fig. 2 but not in Fig. 1 normally. maintain the plunger rods out of contacting relation with their contact springs. Mounted on each line bar 10 and projecting clownwardly therefrom are a number of arms 17 pivoted at points 18 and normally held in their retracted positionsby the springs 19.

Line bars 10 are pivoted at each of their ends and are rotatable through an arc as indicated by the double headed arrow in Fig. 1. Each line bar is provided with an operating lever 20 securely attached thereto and arranged to be engaged upon operation by the armature 21 of the electromagnet 22. e

Mounted on the shaft 23 are a number of cams 24 (ordinarily there would be ten cams and ten trunk bars) engaging the trunk bars 9 and designed to move the latter up and down upon rotation of the shaft 23. The high points of all the cams 24 are uniformly separated circumferentially so that'only one trunk bar at a time is in its extreme upward position. The extreme upward position of the trunk bars is illustrated by the trunk bar 9 shown to the left in Fig. 1.

In addition to the cams 24 there are also shown mounted on shaft 23 a contact ring 25 together vith a trunk terminal testing brush 26, and a ratchet wheel 27. A terminal ring 28 provided with a plurality of test terminals 29, (one test terminal for each trunk) is mounted by means not shown concentrically with shaft 23 and in operable relation to the testing brush '26, and acontact brush 30 is provided for engaging collector ring 25.

Operatively associated with the ratchet wheel 27 are holding pawl 31 and stepping pawl 32, the latter of which is shown pivotally attached to armature 33 of the motor magnet 34. Armature 33 is provided with pivots 35 about which it operates and an arm 36 provided with a button 37 of insulating material by means of which contact spring 38 is engaged and caused to make and break contact with spring 39. There are also shown in the diagram Fig. 1, a slow acting relay 40; a cut off relay 41 and a releasing relay 42 the functions of which will be explained hereinafter in the de scription of operation.

Fig. 2 illustrates in a practicable form various details of the mechanism to which the claims are directed. It will be seen that the trunk bars 9, line bars 10, pivoted members 12 and pivoted arms 17 are unitary pressed metal parts which are very economical to manufacture. The spring 19 of Fig. 2 is different in form than that of Fig. 1 but the functions are identical in both instances. Spring 43 is attached to the vertical member 44 of the switch frame, and its upper end bears against the pivoted member 12 causing the latter member to return to its normal position upon the release of plunger 14 from its contact springs. In order that the pivoted member 12 may be returned to its normal position, however. the trunk bar 9 must be in its lowerposition. The outward end of plunger rod 1.4 is convexed or pointed to engage the concaved end of thepivoted arm 17. This positive engaging arrangement prevents the plunger 14 from bearing more forcefully against one of the contact springs with which it engages, than the other, due to the pressure of spring 43.

Description of operation.

Referring to Fig. 1 trunk bar 9 at the left hand side of the diagram is shown in its extreme upward position, with itslower end resting on the lug of its associated cam. This is the pre-selected position of the trunk bar and in this position the project-ing portions 11 are seen to haveengaged their corresponding pivoted members 12 and to'have rotated them about their pivots 13 until the plungers 14 carried thereby have been positioned in operable relation each to their as sociated sets of contact springs in which positions they are capable of being engaged by their associated pivoted arms 17. The lower line bar .10 had already been operated previous to the pro-selection of the trunk bar in the left hand position and is seen to have engaged the plunger shown in the lower right hand position. The end of the pivoted arm 17 shown in the left hand position on the lower line bar'was swung inwardly upon operation of its line bar and upon the rotation of the lower left hand pivoted member 12 by the lifting of its trunk bar, the aforementioned pivoted arm was engaged by the outwardly projecting end of the plunger 14 associated therewith and swung out of the way against the tension of its spring 19. The pivoted arm 17 shown in the upper left hand position, attached to the upper line bar together with the'other piv voted arms in the same vertical row (not shown) attached to line bars which are not busy, are in position to engage their respective plungers upon the initiation ofcalls upon the lines with which theyarerespectively associated. The first line to initiate a call will engage the preselected trunk to the exclusion of all other lines, and succeeding calls on other lines will be delegated to succeedin ly selected idle trunks.

Upon t e initiation ofa call at subscribers set 1 a circuit is established from grounded batteryright hand winding of slow release line relay 40, normally closed contact springs 46 and 47, conductor 48, line conductor 3, subscribers setl, line conductor 2, conductor 49, normally closed contact springs 50 and 51, left hand winding of slow release line relay-40to ground. Slow release line relay 40 is energized drawing up its armature 52 closing contact 53 which establishes a circuit fromgrounded battery 54, left hand winding of line bar magnet 22, conductor 55, armature 52 and its contact 53, multiple conductor 56, armature 57 of relay 41 and its contact to ground. The left hand winding of magnet 22 is thusenergized and armature 21' is drawn up opening the normally closed contacts between contacts springs 46 and 47 and betweencontact springs 50 and 51. At the same time lever 20 is engaged and operated by armature 21 whereupon line bar 10 is rotated and the lower end of pivoted arm 17 in the upper left hand position engages the outwardly projecting end of. its associated plunger 14 forcing the latter to move inwardly and engage.zthencorresponding set of contact springs causing them to operate to close their respective cont-acts. A connection is now established between the subscribers line conductors 2 and 3 and trunk conductors connection relay 42 is energized, and pulls up its armature 67 establishing a circuit from ground, armature 67 and its contact, conductor 68, conductor 7, contact springs 69 and 70, conductor 6, right hand winding of magnet 22, and grounded battery 54.

The right hand winding of magnet 22 is thereupon energized. This winding is of higher resistance and requires less current than the left hand winding but is sufficiently powerful tohold armature 21 in its operated position once the latter has beendrawn up. The circuit of slow release line relay 40 was broken by the opening of contact springs 46, 47, 50 and 51, but its armature 52 is held up long enough to allow of the previously described operations including the operation of relay 42 which resulted in energizing the right hand winding of magnet 22. Upon the release of armature 52 its contact 53 is opened, breaking the circuit through the left hand winding of magnet 22.

Upon the operation of plunger 14, contact springs, 71 and 72 are also brought into contactand another circuit is thereupon estabhshed from ground, through contact springs 71 and 72, conductor 8, conductor 73, terminal 29. testing brush 26, collector ringc25, contact brush 30 to point 75 from which point the circuit is divided, one branch lead; ing through relay 41 and battery 76 to ground and the other branch througlrcontact springs 38and 39, motor magnet 34, and battery .77 to grounc. Both relay 41 and motor magnet 34 are energized, the former pulling up its armature 57 and the latter pulling up its armature 33 and stepping pawl 32 which being engaged with ratchet wheel 27 causes the latter together with shaft 23, cams 24, collector ring 25 and terminal brush 26 to be rotated. Near theend of the upward stroke of armature 33, the. contact between springs 38 and 39 is broken causing the motor magnet to become de-energized whereupon armature 33 is released permitting the stepping pawl 32 to drop down and engage a fresh tooth on ratchet wheel 27. By the time the armature 33 reaches the limit of its downward stroke, however. springs 38 and 39 have again made contact and motor magnet 34 is once more energized and pulls up armature 33 as before described. Motor magnet 34 will continue operating so long as terminal testing brush 26 continues to make contact with grounded terminals 29. Testing brush 26 is designed to span the space between any two succeeding terminals 29 thus insuring that it will not stop between terminals. Each of the terminals 29 is associated with one of the trunks in thesame manner as that one of the terminals with which the testing brush 26 is shown in contact and whenever a trunk is busy its associated terminal is connected with ground lectedtrunk bar will remain in its uppermost position until a line bar is operated as heretofore described whereupon the trunk bar will be immediately caused to drop by virtue of shaft 23 being set into rotation.

Relay 11 holds up its armature '57 throughout the period of trunk selection thus maintaining openrthe left hand windings of all the magnets 22 and preventing the opera tion of any line bar until an idle trunk is ready for engagement.

v When a call is completed and the receiver at subscribers setl is hung up, the circuit through relay 42 is broken at the switch hook contact whereupon-armature 67 drops back, opening its contact thus breaking the holding circuit through the right hand winding of magnet 22 and the line bar 10 is thereupon released and rotates back to its normal position, wherein its arm 20 rests against stop 81. Plunger 1 1- then moves back away from its set of contact springs allowing the contacts therein to open and the pivoted member 12 together with plunger 14 rotates to its normal position about its fulcrum 13.

78,79 and 80 are multiple terminals of conductors 2, 3 and 6 through which connections areestablished when subscribers set 1 is called by another party. When subscribers set 1 is called terminal 7 8 is grounded through a connector switch or other suitable arrangement not shown and since terminal 78 is connected to the right hand winding of'magnet 22, this magnet will become sufficiently energized to pull up armature 21 until it strikeslever arm 20, in which position the contacts between springs 46, 47 and 50, 5,1 are broken, cutting off slow line relay 40, thereby preventing operation of the line bar. Thus the switch is prevented from operating when the subscribers sets associated therewith are called.

What is claimed is:

1. In a switch, thecombination of contact springs, a plunger for operating said contact springs, a pivoted support in which said plunger is slidably mounted, a trunk bar adapted to engage and rotate said pivoted support to position said plunger in operable relation to said contact springs, upon longitudinalvmovement in one direction of said trunk bar, a line bar arrangedtransversely to said trunk bar and an arm mounted on said line bar adapted to operate said plunger upon operation of said line bar.

2. A line switch comprising a terminal bank in which line conductors and trunk conductors are terminated in multiple and normally disconnected one from the other, a I

set of contacts'for each multiple operable to connect its respective line-conductors and trunk conductors, a plunger for each set of contacts, a ivoted member for each plunger, said plimgerbeing mounted on said pivoted member, a plurality of trunk bars each of which is'operably associated with a plurality of pivoted members and capable upon operation of moving said pivoted mem-' bersto position their associated plungers in operable relation to their respective contacts, and a plurality of line bars each associated with a plurality of plungers. and adapted,

upon operation, to efiect the operation of any, of the plungers associated therewith when the latter are positioned in operable relation to their respective contacts.

3. A line switch comprising a terminal.

bankin which a plurality of line conductors and aplurality of trunk conductors are connected in multiple to sets of contact springs whereby every line is accessible to every trunk, said sets of contacts being normally out of engagement; a plurality ofplungers,

one for each set of contacts, a plurality of pivoted membersone for each set of contacts, said plungers being slidably mounted on said pivoted members and normally positioned out of operable relation with said contacts, a plurality of trunk'bars, one for each trunk, each trunk bar being arranged to engage, upon operation, all the pivoted members in normal position which are associated with its respective trunk and to rotate said pivoted members to position their asso ciated plungers in operable relation to their contacts, a plurality of line bars, one for each line and a plurality of pivoted arms on each line bar, one for each trunk, each of said pivoted arms being operably associated with a plunger and adapted to engage and operate said plunger upon the operation of said line bar when said plunger is positioned in operable relation to its contacts.

' 4;. A line swltch comprising a plurality of sets of contact springs arranged in vertical and horizontal rows, a line circuit connected in multiple to contact springs in every set of each horizontal row, a trunk circuit connected in multiple tocontact springs in every set of each vertical row, an operating plunger positioned in proximity to each'set ofsprings but normally out of operable .po sition relative thereto, a trunk bar for each yertical row of contact sets, means cooperating therewith to move the plungers of said row into preselected operable position with respect to their respective contact sets, a line bar individual to each horizontal row of contact sets and having a plurality of operating arms extending therefrom in position to operate said plungers, and means for moving each said line bar to actuate a preselected plunger and thereby to bring the line and trunk contacts individual thereto into en agement.

5. A ine switch comprising a plurality of sets of contact springs arranged in vertical and horizontal rows, a line circuit connected in multiple to contact springs in every set of each horizontal row, a trunk circuit connected in multiple to contact springs in every set of each vertical row, an operating plunger positioned before each set of springs but normally out of operable position relative thereto, a trunk bar for each vertical row of contact sets, means cooperating therewith to move the plungers of said vertical row into preselected operable position with respect to their respective contact sets, a line bar individual to each horizontal row of contact sets and having a plurality of operating arms extending therefrom in position to operate said plnngers, means for moving said line bars to actuate a preselected plunger and thereby to bring the line and trunk contacts individual thereto into engagement means for restoring an actuated trunk bar, and means for retaining said plunger in operated position after the restoration of said trunk bar.

6. A switch comprising a contact operating plunger, means for moving said plunger into operable position, a rotatable bar, an arm projecting therefrom for moving said plunger into operated position and means on said arm to maintain said plunger in operated position.

7 A switch comprising a contact operating plunger, means for moving said plunger into operable position, a rotatable bar, an arm projecting therefrom for moving said plunger into operated position, and means on said arm for maintaining said plunger in its proper lateral position when operated.

8. A switch comprising a contact operating plunger, a rotatably mounted bar and an arm attached to and projecting from said bar for operating said plunger and an indented portion at the extremity of said arm for engaging said plunger and maintaining it ll its proper lateral position when operate 9. A switch comprising a contact operating plunger, a rotatably mounted bar and an arm pivotally attached to and projecting from said bar for operating said plunger and an indented portion at the extremity of said arm for engaging said plunger and maintaining it in its proper lateral position when operated.

In witness whereof, I hereunto subscribe my name this 15th day of AprilA. D. 1921.

CHARLES D. RICHARD. 

